138 BIRDS OF NORTH CAROLINA 



season the Yellow-legs, after the custom of many other of our shore birds, changes to a certain 

 extent its ordinary habit, often perching on trees and bushes, if there are such in the vicinity of 

 the nest. The note is varied and both sexes become very noisy, resenting with loud cries any 

 approach near the nest. The young are hatched in July and rapidly attain the age of looking 

 out for themselves, for by the end of the month the old birds leave them and gather in the first 

 migratory flocks." SANFORD, BISHOP, VAN DYKE, The Water Fowl Family. 



Genus Helodromas (Kaup.) 

 119. Helodromas solitarius solitarius (Wils.). SOLITARY SANDPIPER. 



Ads. in summer. Upperparts olive-fuscous, with a slight greenish tinge, head and neck streaked 

 and back spotted with white; upper tail-coverts fuscous, with fine whitish spots on their sides, 

 lateral ones sometimes barred; central pair of tail-feathers fuscous, the others white, barred with 

 black; breast streaked, and sides sometimes barred with black; belly white; axillars barred with 

 black and white; legs greenish fuscous. Ads. and Juv. in winter. Similar, but upperparts grayish 

 brown; head and neck generally unstreaked, and back only lightly spotted with buffy white; 

 breast streaked with brownish gray. L., 8.40; W., 5.25; Tar., 1.20; B., 1.15. (Chap., Birds of 

 E. N. A.) 



Range. Summers from Pennsylvania northward; winters from the West Indies to southern 

 South America. Breeding range unknown. 



Range in North Carolina. Whole State during the migrations; may summer in parts of the 

 mountain region. 



PIG. 100. SOLITARY SANDPIPER. 



The Solitary Sandpiper is a bird of the woodland ponds, lakes, and streams, and 

 not partial to the beaches and salt marshes. It occurs with us only during the 

 migrations, and, as its name implies, is seldom found in companies. This and the 

 Spotted Sandpiper are our two common inland sandpipers, and their habits are, 

 to a certain extent, similar. The Solitary, however, shows a greater partiality to 

 mud-banks than to the partly submerged logs and tiny patches of sand-beach much 

 frequented by the Spotted Sandpiper. 



At Raleigh it stays as late as the latter part of May, and the returning birds 

 reach here by the middle of July. It is a common migrant throughout the State. 



This bird lays its eggs in the disused nests of other birds situated in trees grow- 

 ing in swamps in Canada. 



Genus Catoptrophorus (Bonap.) 



One species of this genus occurs with us, represented by two subspecies. 



KEY TO SUBSPECIES 



I. Colors darker; bill shorter, usually less than 2.25. Willet. 



1. Colors paler; bill longer, usually more than 2.25. Western Willet. 



